City Hall Notebook: Food returns to Abilene Regional Airport today

Sweet Celebrations opens as the new Abilene Regional Airport restaurant today at 5 a.m. and closes at 3:30 p.m. The restaurant — owned by Sherry Brown, who also runs a bakery under the same name at Pine and North Fourth streets — has been in the works for months, after the former restaurant vendor, Ann Smith, retired in February after more than 40 years in the restaurant industry and 13 months serving food and beverages in the airport.

Sweet Celebrations will be open Sunday through Friday and will serve breakfast — including breakfast sandwiches and tacos with egg, potato, sausage, cheese and bacon — and burgers, fries, subs, Philly cheesesteaks, tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, taco salads and chef salads.

The restaurant will serve inbound and outbound passengers and the airport's 400-plus employees.

Favors for Frequent Fliers

Members of the Abilene Regional Airport's VIP program who logged at least two flights last year should receive their membership cards in the mail this week with a card explaining the program's benefits. For the uninitiated, the ABI-VIP Rewards Program remunerates frequent fliers with perks to area restaurants and entertainment venues. Sign up online at http://www.abilenetx.com/airport/rewards/Default.aspx.

Free miles for those willing to drive

Spirit Airlines will celebrate its one-year anniversary of operating in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by handing out 275 certificates worth 20,000 miles. Spirit will be giving away certificates on a first-come first-served basis today at noon at The Travel Factory, 4150 Southwest Drive.

Know when to fold 'em

Five weeks ago, the Abilene City Council postponed discussion on a proposed ordinance regulating animals and their owners.

The changes would restrict the number of animals residents can own based on home type, require dog owners to clean up after Fido does his business in the park — or anywhere else that's not the owner's private property — and encourage more animal owners to spay or neuter their pets.

Since the ordinance was first publicized in a March 20 Reporter-News article, pet owners and animal advocacy groups have voiced their concerns, and disdain, for the proposed ordinance — at least for how it's currently written.

A major issue for some groups — including the Responsible Pet Owners Alliance, which sent the council a detailed letter of specific oppositions to the "onerous provisions" — is the proposed changes would violate personal property rights (i.e. pet ownership) protected elsewhere under the law.

Legal discussions aside, the council last month showed the good sense to know when to hold off discussing an issue that could have substantial effect in residents' lives. Likewise, residents have shown the good sense to voice their opinion to their local government. That's how it's supposed to work.

Brennan K. Peel's City Hall Notebook appears Thursdays. Contact him at peelb@reporternews.com or 325-676-6787. Follow him on Twitter for live updates from city meetings and breaking news@ReporterNews.